Nathan Teo How far do you agree that disillusionment with the government is the main societal problem

in China? I agree that disillusionment with the government is a societal problem in China. From the article Red State by Hannah Beech, we can see that in fact, many Chinese are not hopeful that the current nostalgia will bring about good results. When the governors were dispatched to the rural areas to help gather farmers opinions and wishes and learn from their struggles, many commentators reported that the governors did not do their job well, even going as far as to demand good accommodation from farmers in their area. Younger farmers also do not believe that they will get their equal share of the profits anymore. Citing the example of the article ran by Chongqing Daily in June last year, where a article was published about a man surviving chemotherapy because he listened to red songs, we can see that the Chinese population is already very disillusioned with the government. And according to a survey done last September by Horizon Research Consultancy Group, a Beijing researcher, there was a drop in life satisfaction and declining confidence about China's future, despite the rapid economic growth. Disillusionment with the government and its propaganda can lead to dissenting viewpoints between the government and its citizens. Furthermore, most older generation Chinese want the younger generation to learn from Chinas communist roots, but because of disillusionment with the government, which leads to shunning and prejudice against the governments sayings, the younger generation are reluctant to remember these values. Such disillusionment with the government would lead to riots, and riots would lead to financial instability and cause Chinas economy to waiver in its path of unrelenting growth. Thus, I agree that disillusionment with the government is a societal problem in China. However, polarization is another societal problem in China. There has been a growing trend of rich-poor disparity in China, and a survey found the poorest fifth of urban residents received only 2.75 per cent of total income in urban areas, whereas the richest fifth commanded 20 times as much. Chinas GINI index is near 0.5, and 0.4 is already potentially socially destabilising. Although this is already very bad, economist Wang Xiaolu speculates that it could be worse. Such a rich-poor disparity in China could create undue social tensions resulting in unforeseen political problems in China. According to the article Unrest in China, rich-poor gaps create inequalities in the way people are treated, and because of this difference in treatment, many of those at the receiving end of the stick are rioting, and clamouring for more economic equality and equal treatment. Such strikes are often, and they disrupt work, causing decreased productivity and thus, less economic growth for the country. Furthermore, an increasing rich-poor disparity means that the domestic market would remain undeveloped, as most poverty-stricken people do not have to means to purchase commercial products. This hinders sustainable development of Chinas economy, even though they have a very sizable domestic market, and forces Chinese businesses to rely on foreign investments, causing China to fluctuate with the foreign market. Thus, polarisation in China is another societal problem.

Lastly, peoples anger against the government, caused by events like land seizure and widespread corruption, is a societal problem in China. Because of social platforms found on the internet such as QQ or WeiBo, people can surmount their rage against the government nowadays. And people are angry, as seen by the outrage caused by the land seizure scandals in Guangdong. Last year China saw 180,000 "mass incidents" ranging from labor protests to village riots, according to a sociologist at Tsinghua University a significant increase from the 74,000 officially reported in 2004. Riots decrease production, threatening prosperity and jeopardizing Chinas economic stability as a whole. Thus, the peoples anger is a societal problem. I think that the main problem in China nowadays is polarisation of society. Political apathy and peoples anger rise from the main problem of rich poor disparity, and if the Chinese government can successfully destroy this rich-poor disparity and make economic equality a more viable option than it currently is, I think that the issues of apathy and anger would diminish greatly, and the people would be able to see that their government is able solve problems, thus increasing hope and gaining favour with Chinese society.
References: Beech, Hannah. "Red State". TIME Magazine, 25 Jul. 2011. 1 Aug. 2011. <http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2083038,00.html> The Economist. "China: The Paradox of Prosperity". The Economist, 28 Jan. 2012. 2 Feb. 2012. <http://www.economist.com/node/21543537> The Economist. "Unrest in China: A Dangerous Year". The Economist, 28 Jan. 2012. 2 Feb. 2012. <http://www.economist.com/node/21543477> Dextor, R. "China's growing income gap." Bloomberg Businessweek. 27 Jan. 2011. 19 Mar. 2012. <http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_06/b4214013648109.htm>